Every year, there are one or two high profile 3rd party Wii games that aspire to actually shoot for mainstream acceptance. There are a lot of reasons why these games are so few and far between, not the least of which being the fact that it's always bad business to compete against Nintendo. There are few companies in the world that have developed a reputation for quality and universal appeal like Nintendo has, in game development or otherwise.

Disney may be the only brand that can outdo Nintendo in terms of breadth of appeal and history of excellence. In fact, a love of the animation of Walt Disney has been repeatedly cited by Shigeru Miyamoto (Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros.) as one of the reasons he got into cartooning, and as a result, game development. That relationship comes full circle with Epic Mickey. The gameworks to fuse the classic works of Walt Disney and modern Miyamoto masterpieces Super Mario Galaxy and The Legend of Zelda into one cohesive package.

How does Epic Mickey stack up against Nintendo's first party line up? Does it live up to all that awesome production artwork or the game that was leaked out last year? Perhaps most importantly, does it turn Mickey Mouse into the video icon he seems almost destined to become? Hit the jump for the verdict.